Béchamel is a sauce made with butter, flour, and milk, typical of French cuisine but widely used in Italian cuisine.
Making it at home means not only having a product free of preservatives and of undoubtedly better quality than commercial ones, but it also allows us to achieve the right consistency depending on the recipe we want to use it for (thicker for fillings or thinner for dressings) by simply varying the ratio of the ingredients.
In fact, for a thicker béchamel, you just need to increase the amounts of butter and flour, while reducing them will give you a more liquid béchamel.
To flavor the béchamel, generally only salt and nutmeg are used, however, it is still possible to add other types of spices and/or cheese for a richer béchamel.
Now take a minute to read the recipe and then…let’s COOK and EAT!!
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 3.5 tbsp butter
- 6 tbsp flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 pinch salt
- to taste nutmeg
Tools
- 1 Small pot
- 1 Hand whisk
Steps
To prepare the béchamel, first make the roux.
In a small pot, melt the butter over low heat, then add the flour all at once and quickly stir with a hand whisk until you obtain the roux, a rather thick cream. Let the roux cook, always stirring, for a couple of minutes until it turns golden.
At this point, add a little milk (even cold is fine) and stir, allow it to be absorbed by the roux, then add the remaining milk in the pot.
Boil over medium-low heat, continuing to whisk to prevent lumps from forming.
When the béchamel has reached the right consistency (it should coat the back of a spoon), turn off the heat and add a pinch of salt and nutmeg.
Stir to combine everything.
If you notice lumps, you can blend the béchamel with an immersion blender to make it smoother and more homogeneous.
If, once ready, you don’t use the béchamel immediately, cover with plastic wrap and once cool store it in the refrigerator.
When you’re ready to use it, if it has thickened too much, work it for a few seconds with electric whisks, adding a splash of milk until you achieve the desired consistency 😉.
